Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) threatened to “dump” an Amtrak train on Monday after the lawmaker was asked about his opposition to calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Delaware Democrat appeared to be riding a silent locomotive when Grayzone reporter Aaron Mate, sitting across from Coons, apologized for putting him “on the spot” and demanded to know why the senator hadn’t called for a “cease-fire in Gaza.”
“Who are you?” a confused-looking Coon asked the reporter, who recorded their interaction.
“This is a silent car and you shouldn’t be talking to me,” the senator told Mate after he identified himself as a reporter.
Coons then appears to scan the train corridors, looking for someone to help him out of the enemy interview.
“Children are dying. US weapons are killing children in Gaza,” Mate asserted.
“Who are you?” Coons asked again before replying, “Nice to meet you, Aaron. Please stop talking to me.”
Coons appeared upset when asked about Israel’s war on Hamas as he boarded an Amtrak train Monday.Ron Sachs – CNP
“Please stop. Please stop. Aaron, you’re bothering me and everyone else around you,” the exasperated senator pleaded with Mate, who was still continuing his question.
“Sir, can I ask for help here? He was bothering me when I was trying to work,” Coons complained to an Amtrak employee.
Upon further questioning, Coons quickly clarified his position on the conflict.
“I will not call for a ceasefire. I strongly support humanitarian pauses. I have urged the Israeli government to target their campaign against Hamas,” Coons told Mate.
Coons repeatedly asked reporters to leave him alone.X / Aaron Maté
“Aaron, please stop or I’m going to tell you to get off this train,” the senator told Mate after he continued to question him about his opposition to the truce.
“I am a senator, this is a quiet car. You are breaking the basic rules of how we operate on Amtrak, please stop,” Coons repeated, before finally getting up and leaving his seat nearly 3 minutes after the change began.
Mate claimed in an X broadcast after his meeting with Coons that he was “removed from the train” at the next stop.
“After questioning Sen. Coons on his support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, I was asked to move to another seat. i agree About 30 minutes later, he walked next to me. We didn’t exchange words. At the next stop, in Philadelphia, I was removed from the train. I assume this was done at the behest of Sen. Coons,” he wrote.
“I will not call for a ceasefire. I strongly support humanitarian pauses. I have urged the Israeli government to target their campaign against Hamas,” Coons told Mate. Getty Images
Amtrak did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Mate and the Grayzone, an independent media outlet, has criticized Israel for years, even before the Jewish state’s declaration of war on Hamas following the terrorist group’s massacre of 1,200 people on October 7. Israeli retaliatory airstrikes have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
The outlet has also published side theories claiming that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad did not use chemical weapons during the Syrian Civil War and that the Chinese Communist Party did not oppress the Uyghur community in the Xinjiang region.
A spokesperson for the Delaware senator repeated what Coons told Mate when asked for comment.
“As Senator Coons said this afternoon, he believes the entire world should unite against terrorism in the wake of Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7,” the spokesperson told The Post.
“While Senator Coons does not support a ceasefire, he has repeatedly made it clear that he supports a humanitarian pause to allow the delivery of aid to Gaza, including hospitals, and has urged the Israeli government to target their campaign against Hamas. He has also repeatedly demanded the immediate release of hostages who continue to be held by Hamas,” the spokesman added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
